Upgrade of the Detector for Imaging of Explosions

Methods of dynamic imaging of explosions at a synchrotron radiation (SR) beam and small-angle X-ray scattering experiments with exploding samples are being developed in the Siberian Synchrotron Radiation Center (SSRC) at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics for more than fifteen years. The detector for imaging of explosions (DIMEX) was developed for these purposes and successfully operating at the beam line 0 at the VEPP-3 storage ring and at the beam line 8 at the VEPP-4 M storage ring. The DIMEX is based on gas technology and allow to measure SR flux as a function of position and time with spatial resolution of ∼200 μm (FWHM), maximum frame rate of 2 MHz and time resolution of ∼80 ns. Maximum value of the SR flux that can be measured by the present detector corresponds to ∼5000 photons/(channel*bunch) (20 keV average energy, channel area 0.1x0.5 mm2, bunch revolution frequency 4 MHz). Maximum number of frames that can be stored in the present detector is 32 and the number of channels with 0.1 mm width is 512. In order to significantly improve the precision of data obtained by the DIMEX an upgrade of the detector has been started. The electronics of the gaseous version of the detector has been changed such that the new detector is able to operate with frame rate of 8 MHz and store data in up to 100 frames. A new ASIC was developed for this purpose called DMXG64A that includes 64 channels with low noise integrator and 100 analogue memory cells in each channel. Input charge can be stored to and read out from analogue cells with maximum frequency 10 MHz. This new version of the detector is called the DIMEX-G and is planned to be used at the VEPP-3 storage ring and for SAXS studies at the VEPP-4 M storage ring. For imaging of explosions at the beam line 8 at the VEPP-4 M storage ring, where SR flux is expected to be about 10-100 times higher than at the VEPP-3, a new detector based on Si micro-strip technology is being developed. Si micro-strip sensors with special design have been manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics company. Each sensor contains 1024 30 mm long strips with 50 μm pitch. The sensor thickness is 320 μm and it will be positioned at an angle of 1.7 degrees with respect to the SR beam plane in order to get effective Si thickness along the beam close to 10 mm. The new detector called DIMEX-Si will have spatial resolution of 50 μm (FWHM) and time resolution close to 10 ns. The new ASIC is under development for this project that will allow to operate with the frame rate of 50 MHz and record maximum charge that corresponds to the flux close to 106 photons/(chan*bunch), i.e. about 100 times higher than with present detector.